6 Moses the servant of Yahweh and the children of Israel struck them: and Moses the servant of Yahweh gave it for a possession to the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.
Israel struck him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, even to the children of Ammon; for the border of the children of Ammon was strong. Israel took all these cities: and Israel lived in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all the towns of it. For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and taken all his land out of his hand, even to the Arnon. Therefore those who speak in proverbs say, Come you to Heshbon; Let the city of Sihon be built and established: For a fire is gone out of Heshbon, A flame from the city of Sihon: It has devoured Ar of Moab, The lords of the high places of the Arnon. Woe to you, Moab! You are undone, people of Chemosh: He has given his sons as fugitives, His daughters into captivity, To Sihon king of the Amorites. We have shot at them; Heshbon is perished even to Dibon, We have laid waste even to Nophah, Which [reaches] to Medeba. Thus Israel lived in the land of the Amorites. Moses sent to spy out Jazer; and they took the towns of it, and drove out the Amorites who were there. They turned and went up by the way of Bashan: and Og the king of Bashan went out against them, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei. Yahweh said to Moses, Don't fear him: for I have delivered him into your hand, and all his people, and his land; and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon. So they struck him, and his sons and all his people, until there was none left him remaining: and they possessed his land.
(For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of the Rephaim; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; isn't it in Rabbah of the children of Ammon? nine cubits was the length of it, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man.) This land we took in possession at that time: from Aroer, which is by the valley of the Arnon, and half the hill-country of Gilead, and the cities of it, gave I to the Reubenites and to the Gadites: and the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, gave I to the half-tribe of Manasseh; all the region of Argob, even all Bashan. (The same is called the land of Rephaim. Jair the son of Manasseh took all the region of Argob, to the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and called them, even Bashan, after his own name, Havvoth Jair, to this day.) I gave Gilead to Machir. To the Reubenites and to the Gadites I gave from Gilead even to the valley of the Arnon, the middle of the valley, and the border [of it], even to the river Jabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon; the Arabah also, and the Jordan and the border [of it], from Chinnereth even to the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, under the slopes of Pisgah eastward.
With him the Reubenites and the Gadites received their inheritance, which Moses gave them, beyond the Jordan eastward, even as Moses the servant of Yahweh gave them: from Aroer, that is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and the city that is in the middle of the valley, and all the plain of Medeba to Dibon; and all the cities of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, to the border of the children of Ammon; and Gilead, and the border of the Geshurites and Maacathites, and all Mount Hermon, and all Bashan to Salecah; all the kingdom of Og in Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth and in Edrei (the same was left of the remnant of the Rephaim); for these did Moses strike, and drove them out. Nevertheless the children of Israel didn't drive out the Geshurites, nor the Maacathites: but Geshur and Maacath dwell in the midst of Israel to this day. Only to the tribe of Levi he gave no inheritance; the offerings of Yahweh, the God of Israel, made by fire are his inheritance, as he spoke to him. Moses gave to the tribe of the children of Reuben according to their families. Their border was from Aroer, that is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and the city that is in the middle of the valley, and all the plain by Medeba; Heshbon, and all its cities that are in the plain; Dibon, and Bamoth Baal, and Beth Baal Meon, and Jahaz, and Kedemoth, and Mephaath, and Kiriathaim, and Sibmah, and Zereth-shahar in the mount of the valley, and Beth Peor, and the slopes of Pisgah, and Beth-jeshimoth, and all the cities of the plain, and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses struck with the chiefs of Midian, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, the princes of Sihon, who lived in the land. Balaam also the son of Beor, the soothsayer, did the children of Israel kill with the sword among the rest of their slain. The border of the children of Reuben was the Jordan, and the border [of it]. This was the inheritance of the children of Reuben according to their families, the cities and the villages of it. Moses gave to the tribe of Gad, to the children of Gad, according to their families. Their border was Jazer, and all the cities of Gilead, and half the land of the children of Ammon, to Aroer that is before Rabbah; and from Heshbon to Ramath Mizpeh, and Betonim; and from Mahanaim to the border of Debir; and in the valley, Beth Haram, and Beth Nimrah, and Succoth, and Zaphon, the rest of the kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon, the Jordan and the border [of it], to the uttermost part of the sea of Chinnereth beyond the Jordan eastward. This is the inheritance of the children of Gad according to their families, the cities and the villages of it. Moses gave [inheritance] to the half-tribe of Manasseh: and it was for the half-tribe of the children of Manasseh according to their families. Their border was from Mahanaim, all Bashan, all the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, and all the towns of Jair, which are in Bashan, sixty cities: and half Gilead, and Ashtaroth, and Edrei, the cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan, were for the children of Machir the son of Manasseh, even for the half of the children of Machir according to their families. These are the inheritances which Moses distributed in the plains of Moab, beyond the Jordan at Jericho, eastward.
I confer on you a kingdom, even as my Father conferred on me, that you may eat and drink at my table in my Kingdom. You will sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." The Lord said, "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan asked to have you, that he might sift you as wheat, but I prayed for you, that your faith wouldn't fail. You, when once you have turned again, establish your brothers{The word for "brothers" here may be also correctly translated "brothers and sisters" or "siblings."}." He said to him, "Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death!" He said, "I tell you, Peter, the rooster will by no means crow today until you deny that you know me three times." He said to them, "When I sent you out without purse, and wallet, and shoes, did you lack anything?" They said, "Nothing." Then he said to them, "But now, whoever has a purse, let him take it, and likewise a wallet. Whoever has none, let him sell his cloak, and buy a sword. For I tell you that this which is written must still be fulfilled in me: 'He was counted with the lawless.' For that which concerns me has an end." They said, "Lord, behold, here are two swords." He said to them, "That is enough." He came out, and went, as his custom was, to the Mount of Olives. His disciples also followed him. When he was at the place, he said to them, "Pray that you don't enter into temptation." He was withdrawn from them about a stone's throw, and he knelt down and prayed, saying, "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done."
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » John Gill's Exposition of the Bible » Commentary on Joshua 12
Commentary on Joshua 12 John Gill's Exposition of the Bible
INTRODUCTION TO JOSHUA 12
This chapter gives a short account of the conquests made by the Israelites, both in the times of Moses and of Joshua, and first of the kingdom of Sihon and Og on the other side Jordan, in the times of Moses, and which he gave to the two tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, and which are particularly described, Joshua 12:1; and then of the kings and the countries on this side Jordan whom Joshua conquered, Joshua 12:7; and the names of the thirty one kingdoms are recited, that so it might be exactly known and observed what were afterwards divided among the tribes and possessed by them, Joshua 12:9.
Now these are the kings of the land which the children of Israel smote,.... In the days of Moses, as Jarchi remarks, and as it clearly appears from what follows:
and possessed, their land on the other side Jordan toward the rising of the sun; on the east of the land of Canaan:
from the river Arnon unto the mount Hermon, and all the plain on the east; Arnon was the border of Moab between them and the Amorites, Numbers 21:13; and from hence to Hermon, a mountain adjoining to Lebanon, lay the country of the two kings of the Amorites after mentioned, Deuteronomy 3:8; and the plain on the east were the plains of Moab, which lay to the east of Jordan.
Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon,.... Which he took from the Moabites, and made his capital city, Numbers 21:26,
and ruled from Aroer, which is upon the bank of the river of Arnon; a city of Moab, which never fell into the hands of Sihon, and therefore he is said to rule from it but not over it:
and from the middle of the river; that is, the river Arnon, which being the boundary of the Moabites and Amorites, the king of the Amorites might be said to rule from the middle of it:
and from half Gilead even unto the river Jabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon; so it is said to be, Deuteronomy 3:16; it should be rendered, not "from half Gilead", but "and half Gilead", as it is in the Hebrew text, and so in the Targum; for half Gilead belonged to the kingdom of Sihon, as the other half did to the kingdom of Og, as in Joshua 12:5; and so Jarchi remarks.
And from the plain,.... Or rather, "and the plain", the plains of Moab, which, before possessed by the Israelites, belonged to the kingdom of Sihon; and the plains of Jordan, which reached
to the sea of Cinneroth on the east; the same with the lake of Gennesaret, and sea of Tiberias, mentioned in the New Testament, Matthew 14:34,
and unto the sea of the plain; where stood the cities of the plain, Sodom, Gomorrah, &c.
even the salt sea on the east; the same with the dead sea, into which the plain the above cities stood on was converted:
the way to Bethjeshimoth; which was a place in the plains of Moab, Numbers 33:49,
and from the south under Ashdothpisgah; or the springs of Pisgah, which flowed from the mount of that name, Deuteronomy 3:17.
And the coast of Og king of Bashan,.... The country that he reigned over, who was another king of the Amorites, smitten by Israel in the times of Moses:
which was of the remnant of the giants; See Gill on Deuteronomy 3:11,
that dwelt at Ashtaroth and at Edrei; of which two places see Deuteronomy 1:4; it seems as if Og had a palace in each of those cities, and sometimes was at one and sometimes at another, as is usual with kings.
And reigned in Mount Hermon,.... That is, over all the people that inhabited that mount or dwelt under it, Joshua 11:17, and adjacent to it, of which mountain; see Gill on Deuteronomy 3:8 and See Gill on Deuteronomy 3:9,
and in Salcah: which was a city belonging to the kingdom of Og, Deuteronomy 3:10,
and in all Bashan; or Batanea, a country famous for pasturage, Micah 7:14, and for fat cattle, Ezekiel 39:18, and for oaks, Isaiah 2:13, frequently mentioned in Scripture:
unto the border of the Geshurites, and the Maachathites; which were two nations the Israelites never expelled, Joshua 13:13; of which see Deuteronomy 3:14,
and half Gilead; which belonged to Og, as the other half did to Sihon, before observed, which was as follows:
the border of Sihon king of Heshbon; here the two kingdoms joined, even in the midst of Gilead, which was divided between them, but now wholly fell into the hands of Israel.
Them did Moses the servant of the Lord, and the children of Israel, smite,.... That is, the inhabitants of those kingdoms they smote with the edge of the sword, and took possession of them, the history of which see in Numbers 21:1,
and Moses the servant of the Lord gave it; the whole dominion of the two kings before mentioned:
for a possession unto the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh: of which grant, and the conditions of it, see Numbers 32:1.
And these are the kings of the country,.... After particularly named, Joshua 12:9,
which Joshua and the children of Israel smote on this side Jordan on the west; that is, on the west of Jordan:
from Baalgad, in the valley of Lebanon, even unto the mount Halak,
that goeth up to Seir; of which see Joshua 11:17,
which Joshua gave unto the tribes of Israel for a possession,
according to their divisions; as after related in this book.
In the mountains, and in the valleys, and in the plains, and in the springs, and in the wilderness, and in the south country,.... Which is a description of the whole land of Canaan; some parts of which were hills and mountains, others vales and champaign fields; others were dry and barren, and others well watered; some part of it lay to the north, as towards Lebanon, and others to the south, towards Seir:
the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; which were the nations that inhabited the land of Canaan before it was taken and possessed by the Israelites.
The king of Jericho, one,.... Who was first taken, and so named first, Joshua 6:21,
the king of Ai, which is beside Bethel, one; who was next taken and though Bethel was so near Ai, it had a king of its own, after mentioned, see Joshua 7:1.
The king of Jerusalem, one,.... Whose name was Adonizedek, and was one of the five kings taken and hanged, Joshua 10:1,
the king of Hebron, one; another of the five kings, whose name was Hoham, Joshua 10:3.
The king of Jarmuth, one,.... Whose name was Piram, a third of the five kings before observed, Joshua 10:3,
the king of Lachish, one; another of them, whose name was Japhia, Joshua 10:3.
The king of Eglon, one,.... The last of the five kings, and his name was Debir, Joshua 10:3,
the king of Gezer, one; who came up to help Lachish, and his name was Horam, Joshua 10:33.
The king of Debir, one,.... The same with Kirjathsepher, of which place; see Gill on Joshua 10:38,
the king of Geder, one: JeromF8De loc. Heb. fol. 92. A. B. seems to confound this with the tower of Eder, beyond which Jacob pitched his tent, Genesis 35:21; and he speaks of a Gaddera in the tribe of Judah, in his time a village belonging to the country about Aelia or Jerusalem, and of Gahedur in the tribe of Judah, a large village, ten miles from Diospolis or Lydda, as you go to Eleutheropolis: it seems to be the same with Gederah, Joshua 15:36, or Gedor, Joshua 15:58.
The king of Hormah, one,.... Which was formerly called Zephath, Judges 1:17; see Joshua 15:3,
the king of Arad, one; perhaps the same with Arath, which, JeromF9De Loc. Heb. fol. 92. L. says, is the border of the land of Judah, and is twenty miles distant from Hebron to the south; see Numbers 21:1.
The king of Libnah, one,.... Taken at the same time as the kings of Makkedah, Debir, and of other places were, Joshua 10:29,
the king of Adullam, one; a city in the tribe of Judah, Joshua 15:35; Jerom saysF11De loc. Heb. fol. 88. F. there was a village in his time, not a small one, called by this name, ten miles to the east of Eleutheropolis: near to this place was a cave where David hid himself when he fled from Saul, 1 Samuel 22:1; See Gill on Micah 1:15.
The king of Makkedah, one,.... In a cave near to which five kings hid themselves, and were taken out and hanged, and the city afterwards was taken by Joshua, Joshua 10:16; which fell to the lot of the tribe of Judah, Joshua 15:41,
the king of Bethel, one; a city near to Ai, about a mile from it, and yet had a king over it: it was taken at the same time that Ai was, Joshua 7:2; and fell to the lot of Benjamin, Joshua 18:22.
The king of Tappuah, one,.... Which Jerom callsF12De loc. Heb. fol. 95. C. Thaffu; it signifies an apple, and perhaps had its name from plenty of that fruit that grew there: a city of this name fell to the tribe of Judah, Joshua 15:34; where also was another place called Bethtappuah, Joshua 15:53; and both different from another Tappuah on the border of Manasseh, which belonged to the tribe of Ephraim, Joshua 17:8; by some thought to be meant here:
the king of Hepher, one; mention is made of Gittahhepher as on the border of Zebulun, Joshua 19:13; the same with Gathhepher, of which place was the Prophet Jonah, 2 Kings 14:25; and of the land of Hepher in 1 Kings 4:10; which is said by Jerom to be in the same tribe, and not far from Diocaesarea or Zippore; and we read of a Chepher or Hepher in the Jewish writingsF13T. Hieros. Sheviith, fol. 37. 3. Vajikra Rabba, sect. 20. fol. 161. 4. , which, according to the account of it there given, could not be far from the same place, at least it must be less than twelve miles from it.
The king of Aphek, one,.... There was a place called Aphekah in the tribe of Judah, Joshua 15:53; and an Aphek that was on the border of the Amorites, Joshua 13:4; and another in the tribe of Asher, Joshua 19:30; but AdrichomiusF14Theatrum Terrae Sanct. p. 35. places this Aphek in the tribe of Issachar, whose king Joshua smote, and takes it to be the same place where the Philistines in the times of Samuel and David brought their armies against Israel, 1 Samuel 4:1; and where the king of Syria fought against Israel, 1 Kings 20:26; and says that its ruins were now shown in the great plain not far from Gilboa to the east of Mount Carmel, and five miles from Tabor:
the king of Lasharon, one; which, according to the Vulgate Latin version, is the same with Saron, which, in Acts 9:35, in some copies is called Assaron; so AdrichomiusF15Ib. p. 30. , who places it in the tribe of Ephraim, and takes it to be the same Sharon Isaiah speaks of, Isaiah 33:9; and of which Jerom saysF16De loc. Heb. fol. 94. M. , to this day there is a country between Tabor and the lake of Tiberias called Saronas, and also that from Caesarea of Palestine to the town of Joppa, all the land that is seen bears that name.
The king of Madon, one,.... Whose name was Jobab, Joshua 11:1,
the king of Hazor, one; whose name was Jabin, and of him and his city; see Gill on Joshua 11:1.
The king of Shimronmeron, one,.... See Joshua 11:1, this place fell to the tribe of Zebulun, Joshua 19:15,
the king of Achshaph, one; see Joshua 11:1; this city fell to the lot of Asher, Joshua 19:25.
The king of Taanach, one,.... It was in the tribe of Manasseh, Joshua 17:11; Jerom saysF17De Loc. Heb. fol. 95. D. , in his time it was a large village, distant from Legion on the plain of Esdraelon three miles:
the king of Megiddo, one; which belonged to the same tribe, Joshua 17:11; near this place were some waters where the Canaanites fought with the Israelites, Judges 5:19; and a valley where Josiah was slain, 2 Chronicles 35:22.
The king of Kedesh, one,.... Which afterwards fell to the tribe of Naphtali, and was one of the cities of refuge, Joshua 19:37; it was situated in upper Galilee on Mount Naphtali, four miles from the city of Sephet, and as many from Capernaum, and twenty miles from TyreF18Adrichom. Theatrum, p. 104. :
the king of Jokneam of Carmel, one; a city that came to the lot of the tribe of Zebulun, Joshua 19:11; and was given to the Levites, Joshua 21:34; it was not far from Mount Carmel, from whence it is described.
The king of Dor, in the coast of Dor, one,.... Of which see Joshua 11:2; it fell to the lot of Manasseh, but never was possessed by them, as were not Taanach and Megiddo, before mentioned, Joshua 17:11 Judges 1:27,
the king of the nations of Gilgal, one; not the place where Joshua encamped after he had passed Jordan, for that was then no city; the Septuagint version renders it the land of Galilee; and Dr. LightfootF19Chorograph. Cent. c. 88. is of opinion that Galilee is meant, and in the Apocrypha:"Who went forth by the way that leadeth to Galgala, and pitched their tents before Masaloth, which is in Arbela, and after they had won it, they slew much people.' (1 Maccabees 9:2)Galgala is spoken of as near to Arbel, a city in Galilee: JeromF20De loc. Heb. fol. 92. B. takes this to be the same with Glagulis, which in his time was a village six miles from Antipatris to the north.
The king of Tirzah, one,.... To what tribe this place fell is nowhere said: AdrichomiusF21Theatrum Terrae Sanct. p. 74. places it in the tribe of Manasseh; and so does BuntingF23Travels, &c. p. 160. , who says of it, that it was a fair and beautiful city, situated on a high and pleasant mountain, in the tribe of Manasseh, twenty four miles from Jerusalem to the north: here Jeroboam had his royal seat, and so his successors unto Omri, 1 Kings 14:17; and Dr LightfootF24Works, vol. 1. p. 78. seems to suspect as if Shechem in Mount Ephraim and Tirzah were the same; for, he says, if Shechem and Tirzah were not one and the same town, it appears that Jeroboam had removed his court, when his son died, from where it was when he first erected his idols; compare 1 Kings 12:25, with 1 Kings 14:17; and so it may argue that there was some space between: it was, no doubt, a very pleasant and beautiful city, as not only appears from its name, but from the allusion to it in Song of Solomon 6:4,
all the kings thirty and one: it may seem strange that, in so small a country as Canaan was, there should be so many kings in it, since the length of it from Dan to Beersheba was scarce an hundred sixty miles, as JeromF25Epist. Dardano, tom. 3. p. 22. I. K. says; who further observes, that he was ashamed to give the breadth of it, lest it should give occasion to Heathens to blaspheme; for, adds he, from Joppa to our little village Bethlehem (where they then were) were forty six miles, to which succeeded only a vast desert: but it may be observed, that in ancient times, in other countries, there were a great many kings, as here in Britain, and in France, Spain, and Germany, as Bishop Patrick has observed from several writers; and StraboF26Geograph. l. 16. p. 519. testifies the same of the cities of Phoenicia or Canaan, that they had each of them separate kings, as Joshua here describes them.